Hunting a Dream
by Walkman355
Summary: Ray isn't your typical Hunter, he doesn't really feel like hunting the Livies and would prefer a solitary life of watching Livy movies and painting. But all of that changes when he takes action to save a Livy named Becca and gets wrapped up in her world.
1. Chapter 1

Hunting a Dream

I can't really tell why, but I don't fit in. I mean I know that the other's like to go hunting but me personally I prefer to just take in the sights. I should probably point out I'm an infected, I don't know why they call me that, I mean, I don't feel sick. I have a lot of brothers and sisters that are sick though; not like fevers and throwing up I mean they turn a survivor into confetti. They call me a Hunter. I'm not sure if that's a misconception or if they just say it to give a name to something they don't understand. I think we'd be better suited as Prowlers or Stalkers, but that does sound rather criminal. The other infected don't seem to like me too much though. Probably because I'm not soaked in acid, vomit, or blood like they are. I just don't feel like killing though. I mean maybe that does make me weird or messed up, but it's not something I take pride in. I mean I know that I'll have too someday and it's not like I don't kill. I just don't kill anything that smells alive. Those lesser infected are bumbling and a little violent so they try to pick fights from time to time but I just rip them to pieces. I mean it's not like I don't get along at all. I have about two friends, Smoky and Boom. They're alright, they don't understand me but they leave me to my business. They're sort of veterans at killing Livies because they stick to ones that are on their own. I hate the um…what do the Livies call them…Tanks. They're brutish and have no real regard for life in the slightest. But I don't spend all my time focusing on the negatives. A few weeks ago a group of Livies came through and got on a metal bug at the big building with the Red Cross…hospital they called it…Mercy Hospital. Yes. I was happy for them; it was a shame that a lot of my brothers and sisters had to die. Especially Hunter and Smith. But they attacked the Livies when they were minding their own business. To be fair Loud One shouldn't have run through the streets yelling at the metal bug. That's what drew Hunter to him in the first place. Loud One was lucky that Red Witch had come to save him. I liked Old Smoky because he was the smartest amongst them, and the Bald One…he was strange…always with the "I hate this!" or "I hate that!" Could a Livy hate something so much? Well they seemed to hate us enough. It didn't matter though, because I enjoyed what I did. Granted I can't do a lot with these clunky claws, but I'm pretty deft with my fingers. Smoky says I shouldn't waste my time with the colored ooze and paper, but I liked it. I thought they were pretty. I also liked these strange wooden things that made shapes on paper…what were they…Pencils. But I'm rambling now I know. But I mean my head is about all I can articulate in. I can hear some noises outside so I am going to check it out.

Becca heard the cries and screams of the infected as she moved quietly through the alleyways and through stores, trying to avoid the streets and make it through without a hitch. She had lost Tanner and Will because they had wanted to go a different way and Sarah had followed them so Becca was on her own. She kept on moving and didn't focus on it too much. She went inside a grocery store and ran back to the bathroom locking the door as she entered. She checked the room seeing no Infected she pulled out her map and a flashlight. She found where she was and saw a safe house not too far from where she was and she knew that the others had probably made it there by now but she would make it there too. She heard gunshots and Will screaming, "Run!" As she heard the roar of a Tank and the screaming of infected. She hoped they would just pass her by but she heard the Jockey outside before she could move. She heard it pounding on the door and with each hit a dent. More of them were pounding now and she reading her pistol for them to pour through the door. Then she heard the screech of a Hunter and the Jockey went silent and the other Infected screamed with fear and rage. She kept her aim steady and when all had gone silent she began to move towards the door. That's when she heard the rattling of the lock followed by the ping of the knob being broken off as the door creaked open. The Hunter walked in on two legs sniffing around and she held a hand over her mouth to stifle a scream. It looked right at her and she yelled raising her pistol. It crossed the room in half a second pinning her against the wall holding her pistol hand against the wall tightly. She tried to break free and it slammed her hand against the wall where she heard it crack and felt a sharp pain. She blinked away tears and bit her lip to prevent herself from screaming. It cocked its head looking at her and raised its hand to its face and hissed. It then let her go and motioned for her to follow him. She tried to move her hand to shoot him but the pain was intense. She switched hands and pulled the trigger hearing an empty click. She looked at her gun and the Hunter held up his hand which contained her magazine and all the bullets. When did he do that? She moved after him cautiously and he led her to a fire escape and up to a studio apartment where he pointed to a couch for her to sit on. He walked up to her with a health kit and looked at her hand. Without warning he shifted her arm. She almost screamed, but instead she hit him with her good hand. He backed up and hissed pointing from the health kit to her arm. He walked over to her and began to bandage her arm making sure it was tight and secure so her broken bones wouldn't be out of alignment and could heal properly. Once he was done he sat down on a chair across from her and looked at her. She felt weirded out by his behavior, and what came next was baffling.

What was I thinking bringing the Livy to my place, but her pack-mates had abandoned her to die and I didn't want to see her become a freak like me so I had saved her and brought her here. She didn't trust me and I had no way of communicating verbally so I picked the next best thing. I picked up a white board and one of the black cylinder's and began to write; the cylinder squeaking as I drew it across. I showed her the sign on which I had simply written, "Hi."

She looked at me quizzically, "Hello?"

I smiled and began to erase and write again, "What is your name?"

She seemed more and more uncomfortable with the situation, "I'm not about to tell an Infected!"

I motioned to be quiet bringing my hands from above my head down to the center of my chest and began to write more, "Please don't yell, my name is Hunter, but I prefer to be called Ray."

She seemed extremely confused, "Um…ok, Ray…my name is Becca."

So the Becca was alone, I began to write more, "Why did your pack-mates leave you?"

She scoffed, "It was the other way around, they wanted to plow through the Infected to reach a safe house and I wanted to go through quietly so we took different paths."

I nodded and continued, "Are you like The Others? Or are you like the One Who Came Before?"

She seemed baffled by the question, "I don't understand."

I tried to put it in words she would understand, "Immune or Not?"

She looked at me, "Well I haven't been dumb enough to let myself get bit so I don't know."

I wrote more, "Bad question, what are your pack-mates like?"

She chuckled, "Will is pretty tough; he used to play football at a college nearby. Sarah's a little shy, and I think she has a big time crush on Will. Tanner's really smart, but he doesn't understand how things work. Like how to treat women for one."

I nodded trying to remember what my life had been like but nothing came to mind. She spoke up, "Jesus this is weird. Why am I telling you all this I mean I thought Infected were mindless monsters?"

I wrote a small response, "I'm the black sheep of my family."

She looked at me quizzically, "Your family? Like all Hunters or just Infected in general?"

I had to think about that for a while, "The Little Ones are just lost and angry, my brothers and sisters are what you call Hunters so I guess you could say a little both."

She looked at me, "What about Smokers, Boomers, or Tanks?"

I hissed when she said Tanks and wrote my response, "Smokers and Boomers are allies, Tanks are Enemies to even us…they kill all things."

She looked a little shocked, "I see…so what about the others?"

I continued, "Others are driven by instinct, they don't think."

She nodded, "So you don't like Jockeys, Chargers, Spitters or Witches?"

I made my response quickly, "I do not. But there is only one Witch I know…she is Blaire."

"Blaire? Like the Blaire Witch Project?"

I nodded furiously grabbing her by her hand and leading her over to my TV to show her my collection of movies. She saw the overflowing piles of boxes and just shook her head, "You don't clean up much do you…do you actually watch these."

I nodded and pulled out my favorite movie, "Fight Club" "That movie was a little trippy." She said. "So what do you do for fun around here?" I pointed towards a curtain and pulled it aside showing her the colorful drawings I had made. She stared in awe at the drawings, "This…this is beautiful. Did you do this?" I nodded and pointed towards the one I had made of a sunrise over the city and she reached out to touch it holding her hand an inch away with a sort of reverence. She looked back at me, "What are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hunting a Dream

I'm insane, what was I thinking showing her the bright pictures. She is looking at me weird and it makes me feel weird, my insides are cold and my face is hot. Why is my face hot? It's like…I don't know…I'm scared, my claws are twitching. Is this what it feels like when you want to kill a Livy? No, I can't hurt her. She liked the pictures I know she did…she said beautiful. Wait what is she doing, is she laughing? Is she laughing at me? Ray, focus listen to what she has to say.

Becca was laughing; she had never seen an Infected get embarrassed before. She wondered what he had been like before all this went down. If she had met him sooner she probably would have thought he was cute. She could hear her mother now, "Good job Rebecca, another loser boyfriend…why would you date a zombie?" She was laughing even harder now. Ray began to shake his head and move his hands back and forth across his throat, almost like her dad did when he was saying, "Rebecca stop talking or your mom will bust both of us." She stifled her laughter with her hand and kept on giggling until she heard the groan and the hacking cough coming down the hallway.

I could smell Boom coming down the hallway way before Becca had begun laughing, I could tell they were at my door now and I saw Smoky walk through the door first. Smoky saw Becca and let out a shriek pointing at her. Becca backed up against the wall in fear as Boom also entered the room seeing her he began to lick his lips. I stepped in between Becca and them and let out a low growl. Boom backed up in fear, careful of the sharp countertops lest he pop like a balloon. Smoky pointed at her and let out a low growl again gesturing to his mouth. I shook my head and made my two fingers on my left hand brush against my right so they looked like they were walking. Smoky groaned and shrugged then made a motion that looked like drinking. I pointed to the fridge and he opened it pulling out a Coors Lite. Becca cocked her head, "Is that…beer?" I nodded in response.

"Why would Infected drink beer?"

Boom growled in her direction and she drew a knife from her boot and pointed it at him. I stood between the two of them and drew on my white board, "Hate word."

"Oh…um…I'm sorry?"

Boom seemed genuinely surprised, but then again if your filet mignon looked up at you and apologized for pointing a knife at you you'd be a little thrown off as well. I sighed and grunted at Smoky and he tossed me a beer. I drank it feverishly and felt a little better with the cool beverage in my hands. I looked at Becca and felt a little bad, I held out my drink to her. "No backwash." She replied to me. I felt like an idiot and I motioned for Smoky to pass me another, he threw it my way and held it out to her. She looked side to side before saying, "I'm underage."

I rolled my eyes and grunted at her and I guess she knew sarcasm well because she snatched it out of my hands and stuck her tongue out at me, "Yeah yeah…smartass…" Smoky laughed at me and made a whipping motion followed by a, "Wpish!"

"Oh!" Becca yelled at me, "Even after turning that's still a thing…your friend's funny." She took a big sip, "But he is right, I have you whipped."

I growled at her and she laughed, "Easy there Tiger, I'm not trying to hurt your feelings…you did save my life and all." She patted my head and continued to drink. She must have been a real lightweight, because about three-quarters of the way through her beer she was tipsy. "You guys…you're all right…I mean…I thought you were gonna eat me."

I drew on my white board, "They still will."

"Hey! You're a Stillwell!"

I slammed the palm of my hand into my face and shook my head, Becca continued to giggle and I carried her off to the bedroom without windows and I barricaded the door for her. I looked at Smoky and Boom who looked at the door hungrily. I growled to warn them away and they left. I sat on the couch and began to watch a movie.

Will paced the room back and forth, "Becca should have arrived by now…we should go back to look for her."

"We don't have the kind of manpower to go out and look for her, so it wouldn't be a wise decision." Tanner replied.

"But she's our friend," Sarah said, "we have to find her."

"I know, but there's nothing we can do."

Will loaded his shotgun and grabbed an extra pistol and a UZI. "There's always something to do. Come on Sarah."

Sarah shouldered her rifle and they left the safe house cautiously. They weren't too far down the street when they heard a very loud garbled noise. They continued to follow the noise, it slowly becoming clearer. "Is that…Despicable Me?" Sarah asked.

"Who watches a movie during this shit?" Will asked.

They continued moving, coming upon a large apartment complex, lights flickering at the studio apartment at the top. They slowly climbed the fire escape making sure not to cause too much noise and draw any attention to them. They reached the top where they saw the movie playing, but the room was empty. They entered slowly and did a quick sweep of the apartment, finding a barricaded door; Will shifted everything to find Becca snuggled in cozily into the bed. "Becca…Becca!"

She woke gripping her head a little, "Shhh…ow god I should not have had that beer…"

"Wait, you have a hangover from one beer? God you're a lightweight…"

"Screw you, why are you here?"

"We came looking for you."

"We?"

Sarah called them from the other room, "Hey guys you're gonna want to see this."

They entered the room and Will saw the vast wall of paintings that lined it, "Holy shit! Who did these?"

"Oh, Ray did those." Becca said.

"Ray? Who's Ray?"

As if on cue a Hunter dropped from the ceiling and…waved at them…Sarah was the first to freak, "Hunter!" Ray made a sound like, "Huh?" before realizing what was about to happen, he dove behind the couch as she and Will began to open fire.

"Woah, woah! Guns down!"

"Guns down? Becca are you crazy?"

"Ray saved my life!"

"THAT'S Ray!?"

He stuck his arm up and waved again. Will didn't know what to make of the situation, but before he could process is a Smoker and a Boomer entered the room glaring at them. "Shit!" Will cried before the Smoker tangled him up and began to drag him across the room.

Oh shit, this was all my fault I knew I should have just stayed hidden and let them go on their merry way, but I wanted to introduce myself. Now Smoky and Boom, who hadn't eaten in a while, were about to make a meal of her friend. The Sarah panicked and shot Boom which made him explode and Smoky to stumble. She aimed at Smoky and I stepped between the two and growled at Smoky to let the Will go. He cried back at me and pointed to where Boom used to be and held Will in a vice-grip, ready to feast. There was no time; I cleared the room slicing Smoky's tongue and then spun slicing his throat as a warning. I must have been in the heat of it, because my cut was too deep. Smoky fell to the ground gripping his throat, puff of smoke escaping his hands when he coughed. He looked at me with sadness in his eyes before falling to the ground, the smoke slowly escaping his open throat. What had I done, my claws kept shaking and I could smell Smoky and Boom's blood on my hands. Becca approached me and put her hand on my shoulder, I spun knocking her away and screaming at her. A warm salty thing running down my face. The look she gave me was on of pity. She looked at the ground, grabbed her stuff and walked out the door. I brought Smoky and Boom to the roof and began to burn what was left of them, my cries of anguish could be heard across the whole city.


	3. Chapter 3

**It took me a while with this one, because I had to do a lot of research into viral infections to further my plot. I hope you like what I did, read and review.**

Hunting a Dream

I don't know how long I knelt there looking at the flames, but I do know that even after they had gone out I still starred at the charred corpses that lay there. Smoky and Boom were my friends…and I had betrayed them, all for some Livy who may or may not have liked me. Why did I even care, I mean, it's not like she was any different from the rest of them. She was a hunk of meat that walked, talked, and was destined to be eaten. _But she was special to us._ Great, now my own conscience is slamming my ass about this. She wasn't that special, she was just…different…she reminded him of Red Witch. She was smart, strong, and she was obviously the leader despite what Will and Sarah thought. If it wasn't for Becca they would have all fallen apart. I made a mistake, but I was not about to lose her. I had sat by and watched for so long…as long as I had been alive, but now I was going to take action. It was a moment of clarity, what do the Livies call them…epiphanies? I ran down to my apartment and began to pack my stuff. My whiteboard and black cylinders into a backpack with a few of my finished…paintings I think Becca had called them. I packed the rest of my paint supplies and a few of my favorite movies into a small duffel bag and prepared to leave. I turned only to see two of my sisters who had come to console me. Myra and April; Myra was strong and stubborn she was like any typical Hunter. April was different, she was like me; intelligent. Myra had brought me a hand of Livy flesh grinning wickedly. April had a more sympathetic look and offered me something she had no doubt taken from a survivor. It was a pendant, it wasn't fancy or anything, probably carved out of trees, with a strange snake carved on it. I took it gratefully and wrapped it around my neck. I looked toward Myra and kindly accepted the hand nodding kindly, but with disgust. She smiled, obviously pleased with herself and motioned for me to eat. Instead I unclenched the hand and found a small coin in his palm. It had a man on one side and an eagle on the other. It was spectacular and shiny, I stared at it and handed Myra back the hand. I growled a thank you to them. April looked at me with concern as I stepped up to the edge of the fire escape. I smiled and leaned back, letting gravity take me. I felt the air rush by as I fell and heard April shriek in surprise. I did a quick flip and landed on my feet before walking casually off down the road, towards Becca's scent.

Becca wasn't sure what to make of last night, but she didn't care. They had moved on and Ray was gone from her life. She was back to the survival game with Will, Sarah, and Tanner. However, she had made them swear that from now on she called the shots as team leader. Things had gone surprisingly well so far, they had gone through a good portion of the city without encountering heavy groups of infected. They had reached a small hitch in their plans, as a construction site they were passing through had a crane that had left a large amount of pipes in their way. "Can't we just…go around…or over?" Tanner asked.

"No, I'd rather not risk shifting the pipes so we get wedged in between them. Let's crank up the crane and work on moving the pipes that way." Becca said pointing to an empty portion of the lot that wasn't in their way.

Will hopped up of the crane and got to work shifting them. The activation of the machinery made a loud noise, and Becca heard the horde calling in the distance. "Here they come!" She screamed leveling the shotgun she had grabbed at the safe-house. The first of the horde rounded the corner of a nearby building, and Sarah threw a pipe bomb. As they chased it, Tanner readied his Molotov and Becca readied another pipe bomb. With a loud bang Will hopped off the crane and tossed his Molotov at the entrance to the construction yard. "Let's get moving!"

They all took off running and Tanner ducked off into an abandoned apartment complex. "Tanner, what are we doing we need to get moving to the safe house!"

"What's the point of getting there if we have no food?"

Becca groaned and ran in after him, Sarah and Will hot on her heels. They hadn't got more than a few feet before they heard Tanner scream and fire off a few rounds from his pistol. "Tanner!"

She charged around the corner with her shotgun level, seeing a Hunter with Tanner gripped by the neck and wearing a…backpack? "Ray?"

The Hunter turned and waved before growling and gnashing his teeth at Tanner, "Ray put him down…behave."

Ray growled and set him down, "Assssss…hole!" He said, coughing out the last word as he struggled hard to speak.

"Ray…you spoke!"

He was obviously as surprised as she was because he looked at himself and smiled at her. Tanner quickly raised his pistol to Ray's head and pulled the trigger. Becca didn't have time to scream but luckily she didn't have to. It clicked harmlessly as it did when she first met him, and Ray tossed her Tanner's magazine. "When did he do that?"

Becca laughed, "Tanner, this is my friend Ray…he has deft fingers."

Ray shrugged and walked over to her, a little blood coming from his shoulder when he moved it. "Idiot, you got yourself hurt."

He growled and pointed at Tanner as if to say, "Wasn't my fault, this asshole shot me!"

"Well you weren't being friendly."

Will rounded the corner, "Sorry to break up the reunion, but if we want food we need to hurry; the Infected aren't slowing down! Hello Ray, how's it going?"

Ray waved and then motioned for them to follow him as he ran up the stairs. As he did, he would knock on certain doors and the keep moving. They quickly picked up that those places had food and ran in to grab what little they could before moving on. Ray led them to the roof; once they were all there, Ray pulled out a metal bar and twisted it around the door handles to keep it in place. Becca pulled out the map quickly and tried to figure out where they were. She pulled out binoculars and looked at the street signs and quickly discovered where they had to go. They went rooftop to rooftop until they had arrived at the small, heavily barricaded gun-shop. Becca made Ray wait on the roof until they had inspected it to see if it was clear of any gun-toting maniacs. Seeing as no one was there, she motioned for him to enter. The minute he walked in he walked over to a corner and set down his stuff and slouched against the wall.

I was tired, and I'm sure Becca and her friends had a lot to talk about letting a Hunter stay in the same room as them. I know I hadn't been invited in per se, but I was tired for the first time in…ever…I had scaled whole buildings, run miles, and carefully moved around the city to paint. But never during that time had I been tired. I don't know what it is about Becca that takes it out of me, but for some reason it does. My whole body ached and I just wanted to sleep. But since I knew I couldn't sleep I just took out the coin from my pocket and began to flip it over my fingers. I don't know why, but I had heard somewhere that it was a dexterity exercise. Becca walked up to me, "Hoodie and shirt come off, hurry up!"

I looked around and removed them. I was embarrassed of my grey, bruised skin, but on further inspection I realized that my bruises were gone. She walked up with latex gloves and stuck her knife in my shoulder wound and cut her way to the bullet before reaching in and pulling it out. She carefully sewed up the wound and looked at me; obviously she didn't hear me screaming at her because when she saw me glaring at her and baring my teeth she truly looked surprised. "Um…I'm sorry?"

I grunted and turned my head. She removed her gloves and cupped my head in her hands turning it towards me. She looked into my eyes and stared intently, "Hey Will…are an Infected's eyes supposed to be this color?"

Will walked over and looked at me, taking a step back in surprise. I began to panic and Becca motioned for Sarah saying, "Bring a mirror."

Sarah walked over and showed me my reflection; I had never seen what I looked like so I was surprised to see myself. I had shaggy black hair and different colored eyes. One was yellow, and what I'd seen that was unnatural. The other eye was red with a slit instead of a pupil. My teeth that used to be razor pointed like a shark had become more like their teeth, with the exception that my canine teeth were longer and sharper than theirs. My welts over my skin were gone, and I had what looked like…muscles. "Have you ever seen a Hunter look like that? It's like he's…human."

I looked at myself and thought about it, other Hunters were always rotting and so were the other Infected. With each passing day the virus ate away at their body and they became more and more like walking corpses than sick people. However, my disease had subsided and it looked like my muscles had repaired themselves. My body was assimilating to look more human. I quickly ran over to my backpack and pulled out the whiteboard and began writing, "I'm not becoming human, I think…I'm evolving…not all Infected are intelligent, but there are others like me."

"So what," Tanner said, "Infected start turning mutating into Special Infected and then the 'chosen ones' start evolving? Do you know how retarded that sounds?"

"Maybe not," Becca said, "Ray, you asked earlier if we were Immune or not. Well we've encountered all those Special Infected and I'm sure that with all the blood we got on us we should have turned by now. So what if…what if the virus or whatever this is, is adaptive. It changes to infect and survive. But in a body where someone fights the infection or it lays dormant in their genes without turning them…you have someone who's immune…or is a Carrier."

I think I was beginning to get what she was saying. I hadn't been Immune and I had turned, but my physiology adapted the virus and I retained my mind after infection. Then it mutated and I became a Hunter and the virus almost overwhelmed me again. But once again my body had adapted and begun to work with the virus to create something stronger. The mutation hadn't created a monster, it had jumpstarted evolution. "So you're saying that the next stage of human evolution is these…Infected?"

"Well…no Tanner," Becca replied, "Through the course of human history there have been natural disasters to eradicate mankind, and the strong always evolve and adapt. This virus, while it does make living hard because a majority of the population is now mindless-flesh eaters. It does single out the Carriers, the Immune, and the…we need a term for you Ray."

I wrote down, "Outsiders…the intelligent Infected are Outsiders."

"Right, so Carriers, Immune, and Outsiders have been selected based on genes to carry on the human race into its next step of evolution."

"So…we all get to become monsters?"

"Tanner! Ray is not a monster, he is my friend…and he is a lot different than other Infected."

"Um…excuse me?" Sarah asked, "But does that mean Ray's genes could hold the cure?"

They all looked at me and I looked at the ground, "Maybe…save all…but…no Test!" I struggled to say that much, it took me about 3 minutes to articulate that thought. They stood and stared at me as I spoke, and I stood grabbing my shirt and hoodie to go to sleep. Becca stopped me and bandaged my midsection and helped me get my clothes on without shredding them. She noticed my necklace and lifted it to her face. "Weird…snake…" I said.

"It's called a dragon…it's a symbol of good luck."

I don't know where April had gotten it, or if she even knew what it meant. But I smiled at Becca and wrapped my hand tight around the necklace. They all slipped into their sleeping bags and went to bed. For the first time since I could remember, I closed my eyes and slept as well.


	4. Chapter 4

**Took a while to make, and I would like more feedback as to what you all would like to see in coming chapters, because I not only want this to be something I enjoy writing but you enjoy having a voice in.**

Hunting a Dream

Everything around me was strange. There were buildings that were sparkly and bright, the windows of my apartment went cracked or broken. The floor was polished, and everything looked neat and clean. The exception was a large tarp in the corner covered in paint. Canvases and easels sat all over the place, and there were drawings that weren't scenery. People's faces smiling and laughing, the park with the fountain being blue rather than red, with dogs and people, and a painting of a school, kids and teachers here and there. A man entered in, he looked a lot like me, except he was muscular and his eyes were green, a beautiful green like fresh cut grass. "Ray; always with your head in the clouds, did you even go to work today?" He asked.

"No, it was such a nice day out today. I called my boss and asked him if I could take off." I said in return. _Had I really spoken, or was I just regurgitating something else?_ I thought.

"Well you're lucky Mr. Rivera likes you so much. If dad hadn't gotten you that job you'd probably still be sitting in this apartment drawing."

_And what's wrong with that?_ He thought, but apparently he'd said it out loud because the man responded, "Because you never sell your paintings, dad was shelling out money for rent…money you should have been earning for yourself. He agreed to this because you said you wanted to move out instead of going to college."

"Yeah I know…but I mean my life isn't all bad. I've got a good job, great hobbies, and a family that loves me…what more could I want?"

"A bigger TV." The other man replied.

We laughed and I looked at him, "Hey Seth…thanks for stopping by bro…dad doesn't come by anymore…not since mom died."

"Yeah," he said lowering his head, "He just couldn't bring himself to come here…I mean…this was her studio. He agreed to keep paying for it and all…but being here is something else."

"Yeah I know…did you bring the beer?"

He laughed again, "You know you're only 19 right?"

"I'll be 20 in two months!"

_That birthday never came. _I thought to myself.

I awoke in the safe house and looked around. Everyone else was still asleep. I sighed and mumbled to myself, "Happy Birthday…"

It would've been my birthday three days ago…I didn't remember everything, but I did remember this much. My name was Raymond Campbell, I was 20 years old and my favorite food was pizza. I had learned art from my mother. She and my father had gotten a divorce when I was 7 and she won custody of me. I loved my dad, and I would always go to his work after school to tell him about my day. He was a business consultant at some big firm, and everybody loved him. He was your go-to guy for sports and advice. My brother Seth was four years older than I was and he was a lot stronger. He was a varsity football player in high school and had been MVP two out of four years. He was the big success, "Strong-arm Seth" they called him. I was "Sunshine" because of my care-free attitude, and because one day when mom had dropped me off she had called me her little "Ray of Sunshine" because she thought she was being funny. The years of torment begged to differ. But I wasn't mad, because she always took care of me and loved me. In all the years I had known her she had never once gotten sick…maybe that's where I got it from, was her strong genes. But the day she had died had been heavy for all of us. In all the time dad was divorced he never sought out a new wife, "She was the one and only love of my life." He would say. She had been shot…three guys had broken in to steal what they could, but we didn't have anything. I had been at dad's to hang-out with Seth when it happened, they had tried to take a painting, and she had fought them for it…they killed her and left with nothing. They were obviously amateurs, because that murder had stuck with them. One of the guys turned himself in and ratted out his friends. Every day I had visited them in prison, to remind them that they had taken my mother from me. Every day I would bring them a painting and ask if they wanted it. They always said no. The day before the Infection, only one guy came to the window that day…said his friends were sick. I gave him the painting I had drawn…his family had asked me to draw him a portrait of them and I had done so. He cried on the spot and told me how sorry he was that this had happened. I told him it was ok…I was still angry that it happened…but my mother had told me, that the best thing you can do in life is forgive someone…no matter how they hurt you…I hope he had escaped, because he wasn't a bad guy…he just fell in on hard times and made a mistake.

Becca stirred and I guess she saw me crying because she came over, "Are you ok?"

"Just…remembering…" I said with a little difficulty. Words were coming to me more easily, but it was articulating them that was hard.

"Remembering, remembering what?"

"My life…my…family…"

"Really!? What did you remember?" She whispered a little loudly.

"Name is…Raymond…Raymond Campbell…worked at…Rivera's Market…graduated…local high school…don't remember name…birthday…3 day ago…20…"

"Ray…wait Campbell? Like Susie Campbell? The woman who was killed a year ago?"

I gripped my head as an image flashed into my mind. "Lucy Campbell, local artist murdered in cold-blood." It was the headline of a newspaper I had been reading. I saw the teardrops hit the page, and I flashed back into the room as my tears fell again.

"Ray…I'm so sorry…I didn't wanna bring up any bad memories…" She said as her head went down.

I reached over and patted her head as gently as I could…obviously not as gentle as I thought, because it looked like I was dribbling her head like a basketball. "Is…ok…don't worry…"

She smiled gently rubbing her no doubt aching head before making a face and blushing. "What's…wrong?"

"I…I have to pee…" She said embarrassed.

We left the safe house carefully and found the closest restroom making sure to clear it out first. She sat down and closed the door which didn't lock. She huffed in frustration. I stared at her with a blank expression and she got more exasperated, "Turn around!" She shrieked in a high pitched whisper. I did as I was told promptly, embarrassed and afraid. I waited and counted numbers in my head to drown out what was going on behind me. When I heard the zip and her belt being re-buckled I turned around. "Thirty-seven." I said calmly.

"Oh shut up!" She replied venomously.

We returned to the safe house as everyone was getting up and packing their things away. Becca grabbed her gear before stopping for a second. She handed me a sheathed machete and looked at me, "Do you know how to use this?"

I just held up my claws in an effort to dissuade her, "Kill…fine…"

"Yeah well," She shook the machete, "Kill faster…more clean. Come on big guy!"

I looked down at it, "…got two?"

After strapping the two machete's to my back since having them at my side would hamper my maneuvering I grabbed my two bags. Becca looked at me but didn't say anything. We moved out and started heading across the city to the old CEDA outpost to "borrow" their equipment. It took longer than we'd expected and getting through Infected was a problem, but in no time at all we'd cleared our way over there thanks to my ability to get them through and around obstacles they would normally have difficulty maneuvering. We reached the site and checked the area for traps of Survivors who wouldn't take to kindly to a Hunter. After thoroughly sweeping the area we arrived at the front door. We opened the door and walked inside. Becca decided the first thing we needed to do was barricade the doors and do a sweep of the building. I left them to barricading and decided to do the sweep myself. The halls were wide, and from what I could see this place still had electricity and plumbing. _It must be running of a generator…or a group of them._ I thought as I could hear the humming in the walls and the floor beneath me. Becca and the others probably couldn't hear like I could, so they didn't notice anything. I sniffed the air to see if I smelled any rotting or anything like that. I started trying to piece things together in my head. Two weeks after the memory I had had, the outbreak started. Two weeks after that, Red Witch had shown up with her companions. It had been a month since then, and the Infected had evolved even more since then. Those of us that were smart were few, but now it seemed that even some of the dumb ones were getting smarter. I got lost in thought and bumped into someone. "Sorry…" I said. I then realized this person could either freak out or try to kill me. I directed my eyes on them and saw that it was a Jockey. He wore a semi-ragged yellow shirt and a set of ripped jeans, as well as a lab-coat and a set of crooked glasses. His red hair was lopsided and messy, but he quickly ran his hand over it in a poor attempt to fix it. "Q-q-q-quite alright. I-I-I'm Newton. I-I work here at C-C-C-CEDA! You l-l-look just like me. I-Infected, b-but not changed."

I was honestly a little shocked, "Ray…name is Ray."

"W-well Ray, I welcome you to my home!"


	5. Chapter 5

**I know this probably wasn't where you were expecting this story to go, but please bear with me. It's about midnight where I am, I just got off of my first real-ish shift at work, and after downing a Diet Coke and watching the new RWBY I had a brain storm and a small epiphany of the direction of where I wanted to go. Originally when I started this I had all the intentions of it being like a Warm Bodies kind of things, but as I grew invested and you the fans seemed to love my work (for reasons beyond my comprehension) I decided I would make this more of my own. I am taking the evolution and mutation of the Green Flu to a whole new level as even base Infected grow to be more intelligent, almost like ants or bees rather than rabid dogs. I can guarantee you will like what I do with this, and if you don't then that's your right but I have a vision as to where I want to go and I hope it evokes the emotions in you I plan for it to. Help me hunt my dream...that was really tacky...**

Hunting a Dream

It had been three months…not three hard grueling months like I expected it to be, but three months of change, both silent and violent. Food stores at the CEDA building had been surprisingly high, and since Newton and I didn't need to eat or drink, the stores that were there as well as what Becca and the others had scrounged up when we first entered had lasted. We had gone looting and scrounging for anything else we might need and had created a secure little compound. Tanner found sun-lamps and some other supplies that allowed us to set up a garden in the basement where we could grow crops; he said it wasn't too different from growing pot. We had all changed appearance wise as well. Sarah looked more vibrant and less sullen; she had grown out her Asian pop-star looking hair and had nice long black hair. She dressed pretty much the same in those khaki pants and an anime T-shirt, but she also wore a hoodie now instead of that raggedy sweater. Will had grown a beard and had cast off most of his old clothes. Now he wore a black sleeveless and his letter-man jacket. He wore blue jeans and some combat boots, and he had grown out a nice beard. With his blonde hair it looked almost gold now that he had found a way to get the showers up and running. Even if they were just chemical showers, at least the others and I could keep clean. Tanner kept the usual T-shirt and leather jacket with jeans, but his hair had grown out a little and it was shaggy chestnut brown. Becca had her hair tied back in her usual ponytail with a section of it parted over one eye, but she had dyed the natural black with blue highlights. I thought it looked rather cute, in a punk kind of way. She had her hoodie and jeans, and she seemed a little happier as of late.

Newton and I had been changing too. Newton had been growing in height slowly, until he had reached regular height. He still had lanky muscular arms and legs, but now he was more like an orangutan than a freaky zombie hunchback. He was limber, and strong, and fast…and boy was he smart too. He had an almost Einsteinian level of awareness and problem solving. I had pretty much remained the same. My mind was sharper as were my sense and reaction time, I could think and speak as easily as any of the others, and I had progressed physically to a super-human point. I was stronger than Will, faster than any of them, and I could scale a building in a matter of seconds. That was another thing I loved, these new claws. My old ones were clunky and got in my way, and if it wasn't for my deft fingers I'd have screwed up so much stuff, but now my claws had developed so I could retract or extend them like a cat. I mostly kept them retracted so that they looked like regular fingernails, but everyone else knew better. I had added a trench-coat to my ensemble because I thought it looked badass to have my hood up and have the thick coat hanging down like some kind of grim reaper. My skin was still gray, but at least my eyes had gone to being yellow with pupils now. Becca said they'd shift to slits in the dark, and I had noticed that I saw better in the dark than in the light, so I kept my hood up often so I could see better. I had gotten a hair-cut recently thanks to Becca, luckily it wasn't too bad but let's just say there's more than one reason to keep my hood up…you can't look intimidating when you look like you just got out of a salon. Luckily I didn't let her use too much blue, but now I had what did she call it…frosty tips? I looked like her pet, and I felt even lower…but I kept my mouth shut, I was good at that, and just kept on doing what I do.

Our numbers grew as a few other Outcasts and some Survivors joined us as well. Blaire and April had found us, and Becca made it a point to cloth Blaire, but since she wouldn't wear anything but white she dressed her in a white button down and some khakis which Becca had to fight her into. April stayed the same and tried to avoid contact as much as possible with the others but I made sure she remembered we were still brother and sister as I took care of her and made her feel at home. Our final Outcast was actually a soldier who had been in the CEDA compound who had turned into a Smoker; we just called him Sarge because that was his rank. The evolution progressed the same in me and April, but Blaire's was different. Her skin pigmentation returned to the pink of human's and her eyes had changed back as well though her irises were still red. Her claws had shrunk to where she just looked like she had pointy fingers, and she could extend them like April and I. Sarge looked normal with the exception of his non-retractable claws and extending tongue. Luckily it wasn't as bad as other Smokers where half his jaw was missing, it was more like Toad from X-Men…actually his whole physiology was like that, as he could jump higher than the rest of us and his kicks and punches carried more weight to them.

Other Infected had popped up in the city as well; scary things. I had classified them. One was like a Witch, except it was a male. I only saw one of them wandering around and it couldn't speak, but it commanded Infected with shouts and growls. It had long black hair in contrast to the Witch, and it had human looking skin. It's eyes were black as night, no light in them at all, almost like a shark. It's lips and mouth area looked either burnt or melted by acid, as it had that constant evil grin through bits of flesh and skin. It had long razor-sharp claws and had full jeans and bare feet. I had classified it as Maverick as it had a bad temper and seemed to love mutilating it's victims. The other was bald, and it had no mouth. It had strange slit on its throat like gills, from which it made sounds from a high-pitched whistle to a low growl to even mimicking voices. Their leader was the only one with a mouth, a woman who I had designated Swan as she would often sing with her mouth and lure survivors to their death. For this I had classified them as Siren's, beasts who led others astray. The final one had quills that grew from its body and spikes like bone fragments. It could shoot these from its body and used these for ranged attacks to pin survivors or eradicate them. These were smart, and often stalked our scavenging groups; which is why I would accompany them. The Spikers, as I called them, sensed with their quills and detected the noise and movement of Survivors. But I made no noise, and when I moved I was a shadow…a Hunter. I would find and kill them before they did too much damage.

We didn't have a large group, just another five Survivors added to our group. An old teacher from Becca's school, an old veteran like Old Smoky, a priest from Sarah's church, another soldier a Private who served under Sarge, and Will's coach. They didn't trust us Outcasts at first, and to be honest I didn't need them too I just wanted to protect them, if they didn't appreciate that they could leave. But they had grown to work with us and life had gotten better. Newton had drafted the teacher and the priest to help him in the lab. We had designated the priest as our doctor since he knew the most about medicine. He helped test the blood I had given and the blood they extracted from the others. I had to stay by Blaire when she got her blood drawn. Despite her appearance, she's like a big child. She can't speak like the rest of us, and she needs a lot of help, but she keeps everyone's spirits up with her cheery attitude and playful manner. Things were good, and life was improving. We decided to form a small society there we had labeled the Outcast Faction. We held on to our section of the city and April and I reached out to other Infected to try and find more Outcasts every day. There weren't many like us, and lately the intelligence of certain Infected had improved. Those like Myra and Boom's brother Chuck. But they were not Outcast's. They had joined Maverick and Swan to create a small band of intelligents that ruled over the lesser Infected. Tanks were still a threat to their regime, and these…Puppeteers, were going through a war against the Tanks of the city. The lesser Infected were still killing one another, but even they were evolving. Some of them were capable of speech and independent thought. Although they still shared the group mind, they acted as shepherds for the others. Things would get worse before they got better, and it looked like the city would soon be at all-out war…the question was though, who would stand on top?


	6. Chapter 6

Hunting a Dream

Becca climbed the ladder to the roof of the apartment building. Ray sat at the edge kicking his feet back and forth as he normally did when he was either happy or his mind was preoccupied with something. "Head lost in the clouds as usual?"

"Hey Becca." He said without turning around.

"Do you always go here when you are bored; the group does need some leadership."

"And you're doing a great job, why would I want to mess with that?"

She sat down and punched him in the shoulder; he grinned and returned the favor lightly so he didn't knock her off the building. She smiled, it had been so long and they had actually been making a good run of it. She enjoyed how care-free everyone could be while maintaining the usual work-force. Having the Outcasts watching out for them really made people feel safe; knowing that we had Special Infected to match those out there gave people a sense of calm. She swayed back and forth kicking her feet in sync with Ray's, "So what are you doing up here?"

"Enjoying the view…I come up here every morning before the sun rises to watch it come up. Even if the Infected are all over, for some reason they still see me as one of them…or they just don't notice me at all."

"That's nice…what about the Puppeteers…have you seen any movement from them lately?"

"Not really…which is odd, they are never this quiet. I expected to hear something by now at least. I mean…the Tank population has been reducing. I did a sweep of the city yesterday and only saw seven left…there are still quite a few Special Infected around, but we've only seen five real Outsider candidates."

"Oh really," she said as she rested her head on his shoulder, "Tell me about them."

She had obviously made him uncomfortable because he shifted uneasily. "Well, um, there's a Boomer we found who's capable of independent thought and seems to have no interest in eating humans. We actually saw him get slashed by a regular infected and not explode. Instead, he broke the things hand. He's still bloated looking, but Newton thinks the bile in his belly bonded with the regenerating muscle structure making it almost like rubber. Since the bile is almost adhesive and is a means of scent tagging we think it coats his muscles and acts like a shock absorber when he's attacked. However there is a downside."

"He reeks?"

"Yep…he sweats more than a normal human and it tends to stink…bad…the Infected however seem as repelled as humans. While Boomer bile attracts Infected he serves as a natural repellant."

"So if we got him in out compound…"

"Infected would stop coming by…but he'd need an air freshener at all times."

She laughed, "I think we can scrounge up some extra deodorant, but we can't use too much or his scent won't work."

"True…the we found a Charger whose mutation has progressed past the one arm. The muscle mass has spread out, and now he looks like a body builder. He's not as bad as Tanks, but he can smash through whole buildings without too much damage being taken. Then there's another Jockey like Newton, except his mutation varies. Instead of being lanky and almost like an orangutan like Newton, he's more compact like a dwarf…not in a bad way he's just retained the small form of a Jockey. Then there's a Spitter we found who still spits the vomit, but it's in a stream…almost like a dragon." He said as he held up the necklace he always wore. "Her body's mutated to where her skin has become hard and leathery, but she's actually more human looking than any of the others…with exception given to myself. Finally we found another Smoker, but he isn't anything like Sarge. He is without the tongue mutation. He also doesn't have the muscle mutation like Sarge. He's faster than any other Smoker we've seen and when he gets spooked he'll breathe smoke to shroud himself and allow him to escape."

"That sounds cool, almost like a ninja."

"Yeah I guess…I set out Sarge and April to recruit them and bring them to the compound."

"Sounds good, we're finally getting a real family together."

He smiled at the word, "Speaking of which, did you find any new survivors?"

"We found three actually…there were seven, but your Maverick got to them first…"

He sunk his head, "We'll have to kill him…it's too dangerous to let him live."

"Well we're still not strong enough to lead a full on assault on them…we've been preparing explosives like Sergeant Matthis taught us. The old guy really knows his stuff."

"Well we can't sit around forever…I don't want to fight Myra…but I fear I'll have to."

She rubbed his back, "No one's going to make you do something you don't want to do."

"It's not about what I want though…it's about the safety of the group."

"Yeah…do you want to head back?"

"Yeah…"

We arrived back, and I saw the new additions to our group. A sheriff from the next county over, a young waitress, and an old pharmacist. The minute I walked in, the sheriff pulled a gun on me. I disarmed him and pistol-whipped him in the gut. Lately I had learned how much effort to put into things so I could control my strength. He doubled over coughing as the pharmacist pointed at me and her voice was quite shrill, "You expect us to trust these freaks!"

At the word freak, Blaire started to hiccup, sniffle, and tear up. The pastor offered her a small lollipop, we'd found a bag of them at a hospital when we went to scavenge supplies. She sucked on it and it calmed her down, and soon she was back to smiling and giggling. Sarge had already returned with his quarry. The Charger was leaned up against a wall casually observing, the Spitter and Jockey were talking with Newton as he checked their vitals and shined a light in their eyes. Pastor Tim and Sergeant Matthis glared angrily at the pharmacist, and Coach Wilson walked up, "We function as a team here, if you don't like it you can try your luck back outside. I haven't seen your skills yet and I can honestly say that these 'freaks' as you put it are my All-Stars. And that Hunter you tried to jump…that's Ray…he's our MVP."

They turned to me and I removed my hood so they could see my face. I'm guessing they were surprised that I looked so much like them, because the waitress approached me and checked my face. "You…you're him…you're Ray!"

Now it was my turn to be confused, "Um…excuse me, do I know you?"

"It's me…Tammy…Seth talked about you all the time and showed me pictures, but…here you are."

I was stunned; I grabbed her shoulders and shook her, "Seth! You know where Seth is; tell me!"

She winced in pain and I removed my hands, "Seth was with us, he was one of those that…didn't make it."

"No…"

Becca placed her hand on my shoulder, "Ray…"

"No! Not Seth! He was strong, he was tough, he…he couldn't be beaten by this!"

Just then there was a loud banging on our door, "Let me in guys hurry!"

"Seth!"

I ran over and threw open the door and he stumbled inside, I slammed it shut and locked it, "Seth, it's really you!"

The waitress looked overjoyed, but Seth turned and looked at me with a look of shock, "Raymond?"

"Seth…it's me…I remembered you!"

"No…"

"Seth?"

"You are not my brother Raymond…my little brother…he was smart…smarter than me…he wouldn't have become an infected monster like you!"

I stood there shocked, and I could feel the tears streaming down my face. Becca stormed up to my brother before I could stop her and slapped him, tears running down her face almost as hard as mine. He looked up in shock, "How dare you…how dare you you son of a bitch! Ever since Ray remembered who he was three months ago he has been searching non-stop for you and others who he could save! He became infected, but he overcame it and retained his humanity! He saved my life and helped us find sanctuary here! He gathered these people and kept us safe so we could build a life here…and you wish to deny him that just because you're too selfish to accept your brother as he is now, because you cling to some delusion of an innocent little boy? You are a bastard, and I would appreciate it if you got the HELL out!"

We all stood there shocked at the turn of events, and Seth just lowered his head. "Tammy…you can stay if you want…it's obvious I'm not wanted."

This time I stood up, "No…you need to stay…you will be safe here…so what if I'm not some ignorant kid who worked at a convenience store and blew off responsibility. Dad taught us one thing above all else. When you've made up your mind…"

"Be sure to follow through…that is you isn't it Raymond?"

"Last time I checked I still paint…so yeah."

He laughed a little, "World's gone to shit and little brother still likes to draw bluebirds…yeah, that's definitely you…you stupid optimist."

I smiled, "Dumb jock."

"Yeah, well this dumb jock will still kick your ass."

"Well...you could try…but it won't be a fair fight."

He nodded solemnly and looked around, "So do you care to introduce me?"

I gave him the grand tour and showed him around the compound as well as introducing him to people. We ended the tour and I asked the question that had been burning in my mind, "How did you survive…the others said they saw you die?"

"Saw me dragged off…not die…some freak with black eyes wanted to use me…said I would make a great Infected."

I grimaced, "So how did you escape?"

"I guess the groups shouts drew some of your friends, because next thing I know there's Smoker smoke everywhere and a Hunter busts my locks. She pointed at the door and I ran. I made it out and a weird Boomer was fending off some infected. I kept running until I saw the CEDA building. My group had been planning on coming here to get some answers…I guess we just got lucky that y'all were here."

"Yeah…I guess so…but if you're here then April should be too…something's not right!"

I ran to the roof and saw what I was afraid of, Maverick stood there with his other leaders, Swan and Spike. Myra and Chuck stood with them and April and the others were shackled and kneeling in front of them. "Hello there Outcasts," Maverick called, "we have some friends of yours I believe."


	7. Chapter 7

**Okay, so it took a while but I finally moved up to the next section of the story. I'm going to put together about three more chapters for an even ten and then an acknowledgements...it's truly been fun doing this and if you can think of anything else I should do I will. I would love to write more of this but I'm running out of ideas. So please, shoot me what you've got and I'll sort through them and make it happen. I love you all for following this and favoriting it. I'm not used to having people like my stuff so Fanfiction has been a big confidence booster for me. Truly I love you all, keep it real.**

Hunting a Dream

I watched on in horror as Maverick strode out calmly and paced around them. "I'm getting tired of this little game Raymond…I don't see why you protect those humans. Why not give them the gift of evolution like the rest of us? They'd be happy in their new forms with the strength and talents to survive without fear. You'd like that wouldn't you; a world without fighting or fear? All you have to do is make the trade…their lives," He said motioning to April and her group, "for the humans…it's a fair trade."

"Why do you want them? They can't be turned. I've seen them scratched, bled on, covered in goo and bile, and I've even seen Tanner get bit…but none of them have turned."

"Simple…it's like a vaccine. A little dose and they build up immunity…but if you over-dose them…continuous injection of Infected blood…they will turn."

I gritted my teeth, I didn't want to see him hurt my friends, but at the same time April was family. "Don't listen to him Ray!" April yelled, "You've got to do what's best for the greater good! Fuck this asshole!" At that Spike rammed his left arm into her back and drew away, the spikes drawing blood. She screamed in pain and I ran to the edge of the roof, Seth holding me back.

"Be silent please pretty little April…the adults are talking." Maverick said.

She spat in his face and he grew frustrated. He took one of his black claws and slowly drove it through her side. She screamed and shook violently as she tried not to move for fear of damaging her insides. Myra looked away, not being able to face her sister in agony. Tears streamed down my face, "How can you stand by this Myra…how can you watch him hurt our sister!? You're nothing…weak…coward!" She turned her back to the sight of April and shuddered silently.

I couldn't stand to watch any longer, "Maverick stop…I'll…I'll yield…I won't give the humans to you…but I will surrender myself…if you just let them go…I'll go quietly."

He smiled and withdrew his claw, "It's not what I wanted but I'll take it…let's just see how long they survive without you."

Seth tried to stop me but I simply moved him aside and jumped from the roof. I grabbed a lamppost as I fell through the air to stop my descent and simply dropped to the ground. Spikers surrounded me and they dragged me off with them. I saw the doors open and Becca try to run out to me. April limped over and urged her back inside. I couldn't have them hurt because of me…Maverick wanted the humans to join him…but I didn't want that…maybe it was just my selfishness, letting them cling to that sense of humanity that they valued…I felt no different than them, I just looked differently…was being Infected all that bad?_ I didn't get a choice…just made the best of a bad situation._ It's true…I didn't ask to be a Hunter or an Infected…it just happened…everyone should get a choice. Becca shouldn't have to suffer because Maverick wanted her to be just like him. She chose to be human because she wanted there to be something left of the race…extinction for the sake of assimilation is foolish. But I will play the sacrificial lamb for now, the martyr for the sake of the few…and to think, I never got to tell Becca how I really felt…it's a shame.

Back within the encampment they had made out of two by fours and tin roofing, the Puppeteers were celebrating…all but two. While Maverick gave his big speech over rejoicing at the dawn of a new era, the birth of a new kind of people united under strength, Myra and Chuck couldn't help but shift uneasily. Chuck felt worst of all, he had just saddled up with them because humans had killed his brothers, but even here Boomers were just cannon-fodder. They controlled the lesser Infected and marked the sectors for the patrols. They were on the frontlines when it came to hunting humans, and they were the fewest in number now a days. Myra was lucky though, Hunters were valued for their speed and strength; they were the elite of the other Infected because they could bring down anything in the army. They were Maverick's personal task force. She looked at Ray, how he was being humiliated and broken by these Infected, covered in acid, spikes, and claw marks; she felt just as bad as when she had watched April. Other Hunters were averting their eyes and a few who hated Ray were joining in the fun, but the underlying truth was the same; it was unbearable to see your sibling tortured this way. She walked over to Chuck and grunted, and he gurgled a response. They both couldn't stand to see this done…the older Infected were starting to see the light of Ray's cause. Sean, the head of the Smokers walked over to them, "The Chargers continue to pussssssh us around…how much longer will we wait?"

She looked away, because the idea of opposing Maverick was insane. The Infected enjoyed their torture of Ray and the mocking of the three remaining Tanks in the city that had been put up in cages. They roared and thrashed, but to no avail…they wouldn't get free. But perhaps that was the solution to her problem. She gathered together the Smokers, Boomers, and Hunters and told them her plan…at midnight, they'd strike.

I hurt…all over, there were burns and bruises and cuts. I could feel my blood draining away, but that wasn't all bad…it let me know I was human…I was human. That thought gave me some peace…at least I would die human…Maverick couldn't take that from me. Then I heard the roaring and smashing. I lifted my eyes and saw the Tanks rampaging through the camp smashing anything in sight. Special Infected or regular it was just a massacre before me. I looked off, and the Spikers had teamed up to bring a Tank down. The other Infected scrambled to bring down the Tanks. That's when the Hunters and Smokers began to attack their own. Myra charged in and went straight for Maverick. _No…don't do it!_ I screamed in my mind for my mouth wouldn't open. A Smoker came and set me free, I think it was Sean from the apartment complex, he told me to run, to get away from here but I wouldn't have it. Boomers were exploding left and right splattering the crowd with guts and bile, and regular Infected ran in and shredded anything with the bile on them. It was chaos and that's just what I needed. I stood wobbling and tried to walk stumbling a bit and I shuffled my way over to Spike, leader of the Spikers, I tapped him on the shoulder and as he turned I swiped, slashing his throat open. His blood poured out and he looked up at me right before I drove my claws through his head. I stood from the kill feeling invigorated as the adrenaline began to course from my brain and I looked around. I saw Myra on the defensive from Maverick as they spun a delicate dance of death. I looked around and noticed the Tanks were dead. Now it was just all out war between the originals and the new Infected. The Chargers and Spitters were being swarmed by smaller Infected and covered in Boomer bile; Hunters and Jockeys wrestling and clawing at one another, and Smokers hanging the Sirens one by one. The Spikers began to grasp the situation and reign it in, while I turned back to Myra in time to see Maverick drive his claws through her abdomen and decapitate her with his other claw. I screamed, a primal Hunter scream that silenced all the fighting as I dove at Maverick. I hit him full-force and began to shred him with my claws as he tried to force me off and attack me. The fighting resumed and the Spikers tried to get to me, but my brethren barred the path and held it with extreme vigor. I continued to tear and shred until he forced me off. He was bloody and scratched, and I had taken out one of his kidneys. He glared at me and I threw it back to him. It hit him in the chest and he snapped, running at me claws extended. I grabbed the closest thing to me, a rusty shard of tin, and swung it at him severing his left arm. He recoiled in pain and I went in for the kill before explosions rocked the camp. Pipe bombs and Molotov's rained over the walls and exploded. Gunfire and the sounds of melee drew my attention to the gate where Becca and Seth led the assault to free me. April guarded them as the other newer Outsiders helped barrel their way into the camp. Becca singlehandedly fought her way up to me and when she saw Maverick about to attack she riddled him with bullets from her pistol until he fell over in a pool of blood. Swan turned to look at us and ran, sounding the retreat for the Infected that were with her. The remaining Hunters and Smokers looked to me and my group and submitted. I gestured for them to get up, and I limped off with Becca, with a whole tow of new followers.

We arrived back at the compound, and I immediately set the new Infected to work expanding our borders for them and fortifying it. We used supplies from the construction site to set up cement barriers and a fence coated with razor wire. Becca tended my wounds as Seth directed everyone on the construction. Pulled out the spikes and used a combination of alcohol and a formula Newton whipped up to treat the burns and bile. I looked at the floor as she worked in silence. "You're an idiot you know that."

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"I try to show you affection, I tell you how spectacular you are and you run off to play martyr leaving me here all alone! SO what if I'm the 'leader' of this group, admit just this once that you are really in charge here…that everyone would be lost without you!"

"What do you want me to say Becca, that I'm the leader? That's not true…I don't want to be the leader…I just want to keep everyone safe."

"Oh really? Because by handing yourself over to Maverick you put all of us at risk, you're the only one who can fight him. He would've come in and slaughtered us. Don't you get it!?"

"Goddammit Becca I can only do so much!" She drew back and I took a breath, "I'm scared okay…scared of losing you, scared of seeing everyone around me die…I don't want to lose you…you're what triggered my change…until you came along I just sat back and watched, but you were alone and scared like I was…I wanted to help…you changed my world Becca and I can't stand the thought of losing you…what…what I'm trying to say is…" I didn't get to finish my thought before she slammed her lips into mine and kissed me, her tongue pressing inside my mouth searching it's every space…to be honest I was a little weirded out having someone else's tongue in my mouth, but she tasted so sweet. We held the kiss for a good minute before we came up for air.

"Wow…are you sure about that? What if you get Infected?"

"Immune remember…we've just gotta be careful about how much you dose me with…maybe I will build an immunity."

"I hope so…just don't build an immunity to me."

"Ray…you are a funny, charming, stupid optimist who loves to paint the sunrise and enjoy the view. Every day with you is something new…how can I build an immunity to someone who's always changing."

I smiled, "Good…because you are the best thing that ever happened to me." And again we kissed.

Swan re-entered the encampment with the Infected so that they could scrounge up whatever there was to be had and move on. She walked over to Maverick and saw his severed arm…it would make a nice trophy and a story to any other Infected they met. She reached down to take it, and his other hand grabbed her wrist. She was about to scream with terror when she saw his eyes full of hate. "Gather the others and get ready…we're going to feast."


	8. Update

Dear Fans,

I have begun work on my sequel to Hunting a Dream called Hunters: The Vanguard of the Living. It takes place about 15 years after Hunting a Dream. The setting is in the city, which has now been walled off and heavily guarded and occupied by a mixture of humans and Outsiders/ Outcasts. (Yes I realize I made the names different, my bad.) Newton, now chief scientist has discovered the key mutagenic strain that creates the Green Flu and allows it to evolve in people, making him capable of creating Outsiders to fend off Infected. So here come the Hunters…Hunters is now the term for an elite Vanguard of humans and Outsiders who venture into the area outside the city, called the Badlands, in search of other humans or encampments to save people. The Hunters were founded by Ray and Becca, who about ten years before this story starts, vanished in the Badlands. Each Outsider has a name now and is practically considered a human; hence the Vanguard being called Hunters but not actually being made of all Hunters. The main character Miru is a young recruit of the Hunters who wants to repay the debt she owes to Ray for saving her life when she was four. Getting back to the whole Newton thing, Newton and Seth now operate the Hunters by giving the serum that allows them to become Outsiders. Humans can stay the way they are, and when someone chooses to be a Hunter they go through rigorous training mentally, physically, and morally to see if they are indeed worthy to accept the mantle. Here's where you come in. Currently I am short on characters and I have yet to think up squad mates for Miru. So if you PM me your character designs and schematics I will write them in to the story. Please send me these, I would love to see what all of you have to offer.

Sincerely, Walkman355


	9. Chapter 8

**This chapter is the whole reason I had to change the rating to M. Only two more left and then the sequel will begin. I hope you all look forward to it and please send in your character ideas. I am accepting all submissions, and I mean it.**

Hunting a Dream

Ray was sitting on the roof again; he looked so calm and peaceful as he watched the city with a look of utter bliss. "Isn't it beautiful Becca? All this space is ours now. Last night I had a dream that came to me. We should use the construction site to build a large wall around the city, level a few buildings if we have to so we can gather the materials. And then we start training others and making a safe haven for humans and Outsiders alike. What do you think?"

"I think…we'll need a lot more supplies than we have now."

"Well don't worry about it too much; this is a work in progress after all. I say within five years tops we can have this done. With the support of all the new Outsiders we've gained and with Newton getting smarter every day, I believe that soon we'll have nothing to worry about. Besides…I was listening to the radio today…"

"Since when do we have a radio?"

"Sarge and Newton built it. Anyway, we heard about an over-run CEDA outpost not too far from here. Food, medicine, and materials for the wall…it's perfect."

"Okay, but how big is the wall going to be?"

"About two stories, and it'll surround the CEDA base and the other two thirds of the city…I'd like Maverick's camp to serve as a monument…for all the Boomers who gave their lives for my cause."

"Okay, but what about the other third of the city?"

"When we finish the first section, then we'll wall off the other third for weapons production and training of those who will defend the rest of the population."

"Shouldn't we train everyone to fight?"

"Everyone will know how to fight; we just have to make sure that the ones we train know how to defend others."

"What'll the wall be made of?"

"Girders and metal plating; we can strip down cars and CEDA trucks, remove the paint, and weld them to the girder structure."

"…You've really thought about this."

"I want a place where everyone can feel safe and free of fear."

She smiled, he was a hopeless optimist, but that's why she loved him. She kissed him on the cheek and he smiled blushing slightly. "So what's your plan?"

"We just keep up security and get to work on the wall as much as we can. The lesser Infected are still wandering about without leadership. Newton believes that if he can catch a few he can either cure the disease or he can dose them with a serum that will speed up their evolution to intelligent."

"And you see no way of that backfiring?"

"…You've got a point, a cure would be more practical…but at this point I'm unsure…it's been so long, what if they're stuck like that forever?"

"Wouldn't you still want to save them?"

"Yeah…yeah I would."

Newton joined them on the roof with Seth. "No you primitive Neanderthal I can't just whip up a cure all end all on the spot…I need an appropriate amount of General Infected, and even then, the cure will only apply to those who have not undergone mutation. Those who've undergone mutation their body's fight the Infection…so it'll fight the vaccine too…Ray and I are stuck like this and so are the other's down there…but if we can find a cure for humans and Infected we can begin to repopulate."

"So what you're saying is?"

Newton sighed, "Big science brain make sick-sick go bye-bye!"

"You don't have to be an ass about it."

Ray laughed and Becca did too, and they went about gathering Infected for the doctor's experiments. So far the process was long and yielded no results, but they didn't give up hope. The other Outsiders from Maverick's camp were building up the CEDA security, and following Newton's orders reported for regular check-ups to check on their mutations. The five new Outsiders they gained before all this Maverick business had finally chosen their names. The Spitter had chosen the name Mei-Long in honoring dragons. The Charger chose the name Boulder because he said he was like an unstoppable boulder. The Boomer had chosen the name Mitch…mostly because it was on his shirt. The Jockey took the name Shamus because he saw a picture of a leprechaun and thought it was another Jockey. The Smoker chose the name Shadow, because he appeared and disappeared. Other Outsiders chose names for themselves as well, and they finally started work on the wall. Everything was going according to plan and better in some ways. Sarah and Will had found a flag for their group, and patches for the Outsiders; a sword, with beams of light coming off it, because the Outsiders were the sword that defended the humans, and Ray was their ray of hope. The flag was the American flag, it had been found in the rubble of an old war museum. Ray was pleased with how the group had developed. Tanner had become more sociable with the Outsiders and was actually getting Blaire to help him tend to the farm. The two had become very close friends as of late. The teacher and the librarian had an odd romance going too, but when it's the end of the world you find excuses. The Sheriff, Sheriff Carter, had ventured over to the nearby police station and scrounged up more weapons and began training the Outsiders in how to use them, "Mutational skills can only do so much, you shouldn't rely on only your strength or speed. Don't show your Ace until you're in a tough spot, so learn to shoot or use weapons and then when you're down and out use your talents."

Coach Wilson worked with the Sheriff and began running drills with them to make them into a force to be reckoned with. Everything was progressing properly and people were getting optimistic.

Swan watched the foolish ones building their pathetic wall and their foolish training. They would not survive much longer once the Master had finished his work. Maverick had all his Puppeteers feasting on the corpses of the Infected in the camp. It made them stronger and gave them new skills and mutations. The Spikers were feral and covered in shards of bone. The Jockeys had grown taller and had long arms with razor sharp claws. Spitters could now fire bile as well as acid, and the Chargers had evolved into Tanks with thought. Swan's herd had grown into avian like creatures, and the Maverick had become near indestructible. They should relish their peace now, because by the end of the week when the corpses were gone, hell would rain down upon their heads.

It had been a long day and I was tired, so I went to grab a shower. I walked in and turned the water on and felt the warm water and steam start to rise around me. My muscles relaxed and I let out a sigh of bliss. I heard the door open and I got nervous, "Occupied."

But it didn't matter to Becca apparently, so I quickly covered myself, "There's this great thing called knocking…and privacy."

She set her towel on the hook and I saw her nude body. I wanted to look because this was the women I loved presenting herself before me but I felt it was wrong so I looked away. "Do you not like me?"

"No I just…think this is very awkward…any day of the week this would be a great fantasy, but…right now I just…I don't want to rush into anything."

She walked dangerously close to me and cupped my face in her hands pressing her body against mine, as my member slowly became erect. "Ray…I love you…I think you're amazing and wonderful…and I want this."

At this point I didn't want to argue or bitch about her getting Infected, I just wanted her. I cupped her head in my hands as well and we drew one another together in a passionate kiss. Her tongue darted in and out of my mouth and my tongue fenced hers for dominance. In the end she gave in and we relished in the taste of one another. I moved away and began to deliver soft kisses to her neck, resisting the urge to bite down and give in to passion. I moved to her breast and she stopped me. "Shouldn't we…go somewhere more appropriate?"

We entered my room and resumed our tumble. I cupped one breast gently in my hand and drew my fingers over it ever so softly across it and over her nipple as she shuddered softly. I began to gently play with it, molding it with my hand as I suckled her other breast and she wrapped her arms around me pulling me closer. This went on for a while until neither of us could take it anymore, and I positioned myself to penetrate her. "Be gentle, this is my first time…"

"Me too…"

I entered slowly, and she winced in pain, until they found a comfortable rhythm and stuck with it. In and out, over and over, harder and faster as the tension rose until finally our bodies pressed together as we climaxed as one. We collapsed on the sheets panting and looked into one another's eyes. Her emerald green eyes were captivating and shiny. Outside I could hear a noise…it sounded like music. I slipped on my boxers and staggered my way to the door. I opened it slightly, and outside was Seth and everyone else playing AC/DC's "You Shook Me All Night Long."

"And here tonight we have the leader of the Outsiders and Humans meeting together in a passionate embrace. How does it feel to lose your virginity?"

I was mortified, and Becca threw the covers over herself in embarrassment, "GODDAMMIT SETH! You stupid son of a bitch!" I said as I threw my pillow at him. They all scattered laughing and celebrating. I was happy that they approved, but their way of showing it was really rude. I walked back over to bed and removed my boxers settling in next to Becca. Her face was beet red and she held the covers like a lifeline. I pulled her close to me and we snuggled together sharing the warmth of one another's naked body. She fell asleep in my arms and I dozed off not long after her. It was the greatest moment of my life, and little did I know, by the end of the month we would be married.


	10. Chapter 9

**Just the Epilogue left now, around the part where Ray's forces engage Maverick's listen to Radioactive by Imagine Dragons...it's what I listened towhen I planned the fight scene.**

Hunting a Dream

Maverick looked around his camp, the undeniable horde of mutated Infected and smiled a razor-toothed grin. It was time to strike, he would have his bloody revenge and Ray's filthy head would be mounted on a pike. He waved his single arm and they began their march on Ray's band of misfits.

Becca had a small group spying on Maverick's camp and they had been watching the grotesque and twisted method Maverick had taken to further his war. The Infected were less than human now, they were beasts just as the Tanks had been. They marched toward the compound, and Becca feared whether they'd be able to hold it or not. She overlooked a map of the city for chokepoints they'd be able to annihilate them from. Ray walked into the so called "War Room".

"What's the situation?"

"Maverick's alive…and he's marching a horde of mutated Infected this way…I don't know if we're going to last."

He smiled gently, "Keep an open mind."

He turned to Seth, "Gather those who are either too old or too inexperienced to fight and give them a rifle. Position them on the roof with Will and Sarah. Get Sarge to mount the machine gun up there, I want every human on the roof raining hell down on his mob. The Hunters and I will be the first line of defense…we will hold them off and you will shoot down anyone who's not wearing this." He said as he turned around showing the large patch of the sword with rays of light coming off it that was on the back of his trench-coat, "I will be at the front lines with April leading the others. I have put Boulder, Sarge, and Shadow in charge of their own groups. I will not let him harm another living soul…you have my word."

He stood so calm and strong among them all, and Becca felt afraid for him. He was bearing so much so that they wouldn't have to. He was trying to save them all because he refused to lose anyone else. Becca stopped him at the door, "Ray…don't overextend yourself…I need you to live for me okay?"

He showed his necklace, "Luck remember…I'm not going anywhere."

"Ok, but just in case." She removed the necklace from around her neck and gave it to him. It was a locket she had made of him and her, "It used to have my family…but you're my family now Ray…"

"I'm pretty sure what we did is taboo among family."

She slugged him on the arm as her face was a bright crimson, "Idiot…promise me…"

"Huh? Promise you what?"

"That you will survive this…that you'll not die out there; and that you'll come back and start a family with me."

He blinked, "Are you asking me to marry you?"

"No, because the guy is supposed to do that…"

"Okay then, when all is said and done, will you marry me?"

She kissed him on the lips, "I'll think about it." She said with a smirk.

"Then I'll be sure not to die." He replied.

She watched him leave, the coat tails of his trench-coat swishing with each step. He looked like an iconic figure from a comic book as he raised his hood and belted on his machetes.

I grabbed two pistols as I walked out and put them in my holsters I kept on my upper body. I passed by April who had a katana on her back and a SMG in hand. I walked out to the other fourteen Hunters we had with us. The one who was Myra's lieutenant had become April's lieutenant as well; I think his name was Parker. He had a single machete on his back and a M16 in hand. He wore a beat up military ACU jacket and a black T-shirt with a Russian star on it. I looked around the room and removed my hood so I could look them in the eye. "I won't lie to any of you…this fight is going to be tough as hell. I would be lying if I said I expected us to survive…but we are Hunters, we do not fall prey to anyone. But…from this point on we will cast off the titles of Infected and Outsider…Smokers, Boomers, Jockeys, Spitters, Chargers…today we are all Hunters…we seek out the beasts of man's nightmares and we bring about their end in blood and steel! We are the Vanguard of Humanity…the first line of defense…when we fall, we take the enemy with us to our graves and we drag them through hell before we give up! We fight, we claw, and we survive…we will live and they will die! Who's with me!?"

"Hoorah!" They all screamed.

"Lock and load…we're killing this son of a bitch."

I stood alone in the middle of the street as Maverick and his brood approached us. Sarge and his Smokers were on the rooftops to the left while Shadow and his Smokers were on the rooftops to the right. Boulder leaned up against a building with Mei-Long, Shamus, and Mitch. Maverick walked to the head of his pack and they stood there looking at us. My Hunters dropped from the rooftops above and landed all around me, our hoods drawn up. Maverick glared at me with what I could assume were eyes full of hate. Boulder stood up straight and walked up beside me. Shadow and Sarge jumped down to join me and soon my army rivaled Maverick's…the only difference was that we were better equipped and a hell of a lot stronger. Swan walked to the front, clicking and cocking her head like some kind of bird his crew was panting with bloodlust and malice. I simply held up my hand and waved for them to engage. My group opened fire and mowed down the Sirens at the front as the Jockeys and Chargers began to charge us. Before the Spitters could get a shot off Shadow and his "Smoke Soldiers" released smoke and ran in with their blades hacking and slashing anything in their way. Sarge and his men hopped back up to the rooftops and drew their rifles picking off Spikers and the rest of the Sirens. Swan turned to run and Parker threw his machete through her skull. My Hunters ran in guns blazing and blades shining as we hacked the Jockeys and Chargers to pieces. My sights had narrowed on only one individual; Maverick. I charged in and time itself seemed to slow down. I drew my guns and I saw the casings fly away slowly as I fired at him and he dodged. He charged right at me and knocked me over running right towards the CEDA base he roared, and from all the side roads the common Infected flooded in. I saw the machine gun fire and I heard the rifle going off, but it looked like it wouldn't be enough, I looked back at April, and they were mopping up the last of the enemy. I turned my attention to Maverick and began to run on all fours towards him and with a leap I pinned him again. I flipped him and drew my machetes as he kicked me off. We circled one another before we attacked. I swung at his torso and my blade cleaved form his shoulder to the middle of his chest but he just gave me a quizzical look. _Could he not feel pain?_ He head-butted me and drew the blade from his body. I saw the Infected clamoring over the fence only to be electrocuted by the spare voltage we had running through it. Newton ran out into the yard with a couple of canisters and threw them into the crowd and the Infected began to seize and convulse. Maverick turned to look and I punched him with my left hand which had no blade. He turned to look at me and I head-butted him. He staggered back, and I chopped off his other arm. He lunged in and bit into my left shoulder and I cringed in pain. I slammed my fist into his head repeatedly until I broke his jaw. He staggered and looked at me with eyes full of hate and screamed at me like an animal before I cut his head off. I turned to look back at April; we'd lost five Hunters and quite a few Smokers. All six "Smoke Soldiers were alive though. I turned to the Infected who lay there motionless occasionally spasming. I lifted Maverick's head high and let out a primal Hunter screech. We had won…and we could finally start rebuilding.


	11. Epilogue

**Here it is, the end of it all...but with the end there is always room for new beginnings...so I thank you for following me and my crazy ride and believing in the dream of a stupid optimist...I hope you enjoy this final chapter and please review. Also don't forget to send your OC ideas to me...I will await them eagerly...plus I can't really start a sequel with three OC's...**

Epilogue

"Hide for Mommy, Miru, the bad men are here again."

Miru did as she was told and hid under her bed. The bad men were scary and always screamed and shrieked, running at people and eating them. Miru and her mother had been on the run for as long as Miru could remember. Recently Mommy had heard of a place they could be safe…a place called Boom Town, away from all the bad men.

She heard the click-clack of Mommy's safety stick and covered her ears as the slick made a loud bang! It continued with the screaming and banging as Miru waited for it to all be over, Mommy was tough, she could get scratched and bitten and would be okay, but this time was different, this time a strange one was with the bad men. It shrieked and swooped down from the air pinning Mommy and biting her. Miru stifled her scream and watched in horror as they began to eat Mommy.

She closed her eyes and covered her ears to block it all out. She sat there shivering hoping it would all be over and they would leave her alone. But it grew silent. Miru opened her eyes and the strange bird creature was staring right at her. Its mouth opened horizontally and it let out and un-godly shriek as Miru screamed. Then its head fell to the floor and a strange man in a coat stood over her. He was scary too.

He wore a blue jacket with a hood and a long, black coat. His skin was grey and beneath his hood, his eyes reflected gold. He had shaggy black hair and a beard and he leaned down to look at her. He looked like a bad man, so Miru backed away. And then he smiled, it was a warm smile, like Mommy's.

"Don't worry, I'm here to protect you from all the scary things. My name is Ray, what's your name."

She heard more loud bangs in the distance and people yelling as the bad men shrieked and ran away. "M-miru…what's going to happen to Mommy?"

He kept the smile, "We're going to take her to the hospital…do you know what that is?"

She shook her head, "Well a hospital is where we take people so they can get all better. And sometimes is they don't get better we send them to a place called Heaven, where they get to relax all day and be with their friends until they get better."

"I want to go to Heaven…but I don't have any friends."

He smiled again, "Well Miru, you don't look sick to me so we're going to take you to the city and we're going to help you make lots of friends…just tell them that your best friend is Ray and they will get you anything you need."

She smiled and hugged him, "Okay!"

"Now this is my wife Becca…she's also a Mommy…she'll take you to the city. I hope you can be good friends with our son Daniel."

As the girl skipped off with Becca I turned to look at April, "Log it…out of this camp of fifteen only six survivors…the Badlands are becoming more and more dangerous…this was an encampment only 100 miles from the city…imagine what'll happen when things get closer."

"You also have to remember this was a weaker encampment, some of the stronger ones have at least 50 people and are well fortified…but they're not very trusting."

"Especially of Outsiders…just hard to believe though…that girl is four years old…she was born into the middle of hell, and she'll never see her mother again."

"Yeah…but we have to keep pushing."

"Yeah you're right sis…call in Seth, tell him we're bringing in some new citizens."


	12. OC Form

**Not trying to be pushy, I just like to keep it organized...and I'd really like to hear from y'all.**

OC Form for Hunters: Vanguards of Humanity

Name:

Height:

Hair/ Eye Color:

Weapon of Choice:

History:

Personality:

Appearance:

Outsider Type: (Put N/A if character is human)


	13. Second Update

It's HERE!

Hunters: The Vanguard of Humanity 1st chapter is here…read it.


End file.
